This point shapefile contains the proper names and locations of churches in the United States and its Territories using the Federal standard for geographic nomenclature. The U.S. Geological Survey developed the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) for the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, a Federal inter-agency body chartered by public law to maintain uniform feature name usage throughout the Government and to promulgate standard names to the public. This layer is part of the 2014 ESRI Data and Maps collection for ArcGIS 10.2. Geographic Names Information System, of which U.S. Geographic Names Information System Churches is a part, is the official repository of domestic geographic names data; the official vehicle for geographic names use by all departments of the Federal Government; and the source for applying geographic names to Federal electronic and printed products of all types in the United States. The feature locative information has been used in emergency preparedness, marketing, site-selection and analysis, genealogical and historical research, and transportation routing applications.
